Egusi Soup (Nigerian melon-seed soup)

InternationalNigerian75 minServes 6

Egusi are the seeds of a type of gourd, dried and ground to give the soup a rich, thick body. In Nigerian homes, among the Yoruba, Igbo and others, it is cooked with palm oil, meat, dried fish and leafy greens, and served with pounded yam or fufu, eaten by hand one morsel at a time around the table. It is a dish for guests and celebrations. It is said in kitchens that good egusi is recognised by its golden curds, which float in the sauce and do not dissolve.

Origin of the dish: Nigeria — Cooked by the Yoruba, Igbo and others, and also known in Ghana, Cameroon and other West African countries

Photo: Egusi soup with pounded yam and assorted meats.jpg by Onyenachi64, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Ingredients for Egusi Soup

• 1 cup(150 g) ground egusi (melon seeds)
• 500 gbeef, cubed
• 200 gdried or smoked fish (optional)
• ⅓ cuppalm oil
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 3tomatoes, 1 red bell pepper and 1 hot pepper, blended
• 2 cupsbeef stock
• 1halal stock cube
• 300 gspinach or other leafy greens, chopped
• salt to taste
• To servepounded yam, fufu or rice

Method

1. Boil the beef with half of the onion and salt in water to cover for about 40 minutes until tender, and keep the stock.
2. Heat the palm oil in a pot over medium heat, add the remaining onion and stir for 2 minutes.
3. Add the blended tomato and pepper mixture and cook for 10 minutes until thick.
4. Mix the egusi with a little water into a paste, then add it to the pot in small spoonfuls and leave for 5 minutes without stirring so it forms curds.
5. Add the beef, the stock, the stock cube and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.
6. Add the dried fish, then the greens, and cook for 5 minutes; adjust the salt.
7. Serve hot with pounded yam or fufu.

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